Breast pump



March 1, 1932. LASKER 1,847,658

BREAST PUMP Filed Jan. 26, 1925 Patented Mar. 1, 1-932 "OFFICE nnwm: msm, or" cnrcaeo, nmmo'rs nanas'r rump 7 Application filedj'anuary 26,,1925.. Serial Ko..4,942 i Z1,

My invention relates. to breast pumps. and

it has for its object'to provide a new and mm proved form and arrangement'of parts for producing and controlling the vacuum by the force of' which the operation of the, device is effected. It is one of the'objects of my invention to provide controlling means for the application of the force of the vacuum independentlyof the production of the vacuum. so: that a suction of constant power may be utilized for'exerting its force ntermittently so as to provide rest perlods'between successiveperiods of action. It 1s another object; of my" invention to provide an arrangement .of part's comprising a controlling mechanism. of the type described and comprising: means bywhich air under light pressureis supplied at the rest periods for exerting a, massaging effect whereby the gland is, stimulated beneficially, for rapidly increasing milk production and for relieving the blood congestion caused by the vacuum. p c

It is'another object of my invention to improvedevices of" this. type in sundry details hereinafter pointed out, The preferred means by; which I have accomplished ,my'several ohj'ectsare illustrated in the drawings,

., and are hereinafter specifically. described.

That which I believe to be new and desire to cover by this application. is set. forth in the claims;

In the drawings:

"Fig; view, partly in sectio'mand more or less diagrammatic, showing an approved form'ofmy" invention. Fig. 21is an enlarged detail view of the breastappliance, beingshown'insection; and

Fig. 3- is a view-partly in section and more or' less diagrammatic, showing a modified formof myimproved mechanism;

7 Referring particularly to'Figsl and 2, 10 indicates an ejectorof any. approved type adapted to be connected by means of a coustyle,through the medium oflwhi'ch a stream of water of variablesize can be forced through theejector- 10, serving to draw air toward-the right in Fig. 1 through thebranch pipe 13. The pipc-13is connectedby' means pling device;1 1,with afaucet I2 of the usual "or with some other suitable source of elec-i of'a flexible tube '14 with a receptacle15 which is shown inthe form of a bottle breast applianceclfi is mounted in the closure 17-0f the receptacle by means of a' hollow shank 18, whereby the suction exerted upon the pipe13 by the ejector 10"is-app1ied at the mouth ofthe breast appliance 16'. Uponthe pipe 13,thereis mountedapressure indicator 1-9 of any suitable type by which the effective force of the vacuumcan be de- 36 termined. A relief-valve-device 20 is also provided, comprising a cap 21 provided with an opening 22 in. its outer end, a ball 23 being held in position for closing theopenin 22 by a coiled spring 24, the'eifective stren of the spring 24upon the ball 23 beingcontroll'able by theadjustment of the cap 21 upon the valve device 20, the adjustment'in the construction shown being effected by the ,i use of screw threads. As will be readily understood, when the force of the vacuum ex: ceeds a certain predetermined strength,'the ball 23 will be; unseated against the action of the spring 24, permitting the entrance of air.

Means is provided for interrupting the action of the vacuum upon the breast appliance, such interrupting means in the construction shown comprising an opening'25 which may be interposed at any convenient point in the tubula r'connections between. the vacuum creating means and the ;vacuum chamber 15, this opening being normally closed but adaptedto. be opened at intervals to destroy the vacuum'in the apparatus; Any 8 means may be used to intermittently close this opening 25', this means being here shown as a valve 25 carried by a springarm 26 mounted upon the pipe 13, the spri'ng26 servingto hold the valve 25 yieldingly in positi-on for closing opening in the wall of the pipe 13. An electro magnet 27 is positioned opposite the spring 26 which is pro vided with an armature 28 adapted. to be at; V tract-edbythe magnet 2'1 for raising the spring 26 and carrying'the valve 25 out ofit'soperative closing position, The magnet: 27, is operatively connected "with abatt er y 29 tri-ca-l energy, a commutator '30 being interposed in the circuit connecting the magnet with the battery. The commutator 30 is adapted to be driven at the desired speed by means of a shaft 31 which is to be rotated manually or by any suitable driving means as may be desired.

In operation, the breast appliance 16 is applied to the breast of a patient in the .well known manner, while the faucet 12 is opened so as to produce a suction effect through the pipe 13. At the same timethe shaft 31 is driven for making and breaking the electrical connection between the battery 29 and the electro-magnet 27 During the time when the valve 25 is in the position as shown in Fig. 1, a suction isexerted through the tube 14 and the vacuum chamber 15, causing the milk to. be drawn into the vacuum chamber 15 which serves as the .milk receiver. The pressure, which is determined. by the gauge 19 is controlled .by the regulation of the stream of water passing through the faucet in the usual manner. The relief valve device 20 serves merely for providing a maximum force of vacuum, the relief valve being adapted to function only when there is a tendency to exceed such predetermined maximum force. As the commutator 30 rotates, the circuit through the magnet 27 is broken at intervals, permitting the valve 25 to move into the position as shown in Fig. 1 for rendering the. force of the vacuum effective upon the breast appliance. At alternate intervals, the magnet 27 is energized, serving to move the valve 25 upwardly for permitting air to enter freely to the interior of the pipe 13, serving thus to relieve the suction upon the vacuum chamber 15 and the breast appliance 16. 'By

this means, alternate periods of operation and rest are provided. The length of the periods of operation is of course controlled by the rate of rotation of the shaft 31 upon which the commutator is mounted.

It is ordinarily preferable that the periods of operation and rest be as regular as possible, such regularity contributing materially to the stimulation of milk secretion- For this reason, it is important that the shaft'31 be driven at a constant rate, and suitable means for effecting this result is preferably to be supplied.

The breast appliance .16 is funneLshaped, being preferably in the form of a cone continuously from the edge at the mouth of the appliance substantially to the apex where the suction opening from the body of the appliance into the shank I8 is comparatively much smaller in diameterthan that of the nipple of the breast of the patient. The

angle of the opening of the cone of the breast appliance is preferably to be less than 90 and is to be large enough to permit the breast of the patient to' be inserted well within the appliance, so as to bring'the nipple of the breast preferably in close proximity to the This valve 32 is in the form of a tapered tube of flexible material such as rubber, the outer end of which is slit "at 33. The construction is such that the slit 33 is normally closed, and held closed by a light yielding pressure, so as to prevent the entrance of air downwardly therethrough. The device is adapted to open, however, so as to permit the escape of air in case the interior pressure in the valve 32 rises higher above the atmospheric pressure than desired.

p In the construction shown in Fig. 3, a rotary pump 34 is utilized forproviding the desired vacuum, such pump being driven in the con-. struction shown, bya motor 35 of any suit able type. A worm 36, mounted upon the motor shaft 37 drives a worm gear 38 mounted upon a shaft 39, the shaft 39 being provided with a crank arm 40 which is connected by means of a pitman41, with the arm 42 of a valve 43 mounted within a valve case 44, located in the connections between the pump 34 and the vacuumchamber 15. As is clearly shown in said Fig. 3, the valve casing 44 is connected with both the suction side andthe pressure side of the pump 34 by means 'of short pipes45 and 46, respectively, the arrangement being suchthat the tube 14 lead ing from the vacuum chamber 15 is adapted to be connected alternately with'the suction side and the pressure side of the pump as the valve 43 is given the rotary movement by means of its connection with the gear 38.- The operation of the device as shown in Fig. 3 is substantially the same as that above described, except that during the periods of rest the vacuum chamber 15 is connected with the pressure side of the pump so as to provide a slight pressure within the breast appliance 16 above that of the atmosphereas compared with the atmospheric pressure within the breast appliance 16 of the device of Fig. 1. By the provision of this slight excess of pressure within the breast appliance in the device of Fig. 3, a massaging effect is produced upon the gland of the breast'of the patient, servingto stimulate the gland beneficially for bringing about rapid stimulation of milk secretion-and relief from blood congestion. The amount of pressure delivered upon the breast through the appliance 16 is of course controlled by the degree of force required for opening the relief valve 32.

While I prefer to embody my invention in one of the forms as illustrated in the drawings, it will be understood that I do not desire to limit myself to the details of such constructions, except so far as the claims hereinafter presented are so limited, inasmuch as it is evident that changes might readily be made in the forms of the mechanism without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A breast pump comprising a vacuum chamber, a breast appliance connected therewith, means connected with said chamber for exhausting air from the chamber and the breast appliance, a valve interposed between the exhausting means and the mouth of the breast appliance for quickly eliminating the vacuum on said breast appliance, an electromagnet adapted when energized to operate said valve, a commutator connected with said magnet and with a source of electrical energy, and means for actuating said commutator for giving said valve an intermittent operation in the desired timed relation.

2. A breast pump comprising an ejector for producing a continuously acting suction, means for connecting said ejector to a source of running water for operation by a stream of water passing therethrough, a receptacle,

a closure for said receptacle, a tube composed of rigid and flexible parts passing through said closure and connected to the suction end of the ejector for the exhaustion of the receptacle, said tube having a projection thereon,

said projection having an opening therein forming a vent enabling interruption of the exhaustion of the receptacle and a rigid tube extending through said closure, said tube being bent and having a flaring, conical shaped inlet for application to the breast. I

EDWARD LASKER. 

